


Cheap Shot

by Yadirocks



Series: Cup Crazy [7]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 17:44:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6529831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yadirocks/pseuds/Yadirocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leave it to Brent Seabrook to let history repeat itself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cheap Shot

The playoffs were so close now that David could almost taste it. Every game the Blues played now was looking more and more like a playoff game, and everyone on the team certainly took it just as seriously. This game was going to be intense, because not only were they so close to the head-pounding, heart-stopping tension of the playoffs...the Blues were facing their long-time rival, the Chicago Blackhawks, in one the last games of the 2015-16 season. To Backes, he felt like a little kid on Christmas morning. 

That is, until Backes looked over at the opposing bench and saw none other than Brent Seabrook staring at him, his stare colder than the ice he skated on. Backes felt a chill rise up his spine as he stared right back, finally looking away, a new feeling spreading through his entire body: hatred. To say that David simply extremely disliked Seabrook was a huge understatement. He couldn't stand the guy, at least not since the incident in 2014 that nearly cost Backes the rest of the playoffs. Although he hadn't been really aware after Seabrook smashed his head into the boards, he had heard the recordings and seen the T-shirts that the Blackhawks fans wore with smug faces as they cheered against their biggest rival. He had lost a huge amount of respect for Brent Seabrook that day, because not only had the hit been illegal, but he knew that Seabrook wouldn't hesitate to pull that crap again. 

Backes knew he wasn't innocent when it came to big hits (and sometimes, he'd admit, they were illegal). However, unlike Seabrook, he never intentionally wanted to hurt someone. If someone got hurt on his account, he felt awful, but that was the game of hockey, he knew. You either take the hit or try to get away from it, and both are dangerous. So even though Backes submitted to the fact that Seabrook was just playing his game, he still worried that he'd do the same thing again very soon, and if he didn't do it to Backes, he'd do it to someone else. 

The Blues were winning 2-1 when the second period started. Backes was relieved to be beating the Blackhawks. He had to admit, they were a great team, but he refused to agree with the statement that the Blackhawks were better. Their records said otherwise. Besides, Backes thought as he circled the faceoff dot, after tonight, there would be no argument as to who was the better of the two. "You've gotta take it one game at a time, Davey," TJ had once told him. He hated the fact that even a year later, he could still hear Oshie's smug voice and his proud little smirk. When they played the Capitals again, he'd be sure to sock TJ in the mouth for it. 

David took a deep breath, staring at the puck and not meeting the eyes of Jonathan Toews. He was pretty sure that every time he had went to glare at Jonathan anyway, he either hadn't been paying attention or just ignored it. Toews was a good sport. 

The puck dropped, and the game commenced once more. During the play, Backes chose not to think. The game was supposed to be simple. Pass, shoot, hit. When he went on the bench for the next line to go out, he felt like the entire forty-five seconds he had been on the ice just flew by. As long as the Blackhawks didn't score to tie it up, then Backes could continue with the simple thinking. 

It gave him more room to do this when Jori Lehtera made a pass to Vladimir Tarasenko. It was as if Tarasenko didn't even let it hit the ice, but instead hit it out of mid-air to shave off time. That was how fast Vladi's shot was, and Crawford learned that very quickly as the shot made it just past his blocker. The crowd erupted in cheers, and Tarasenko was tackled by Lehtera, Schwartz, and Shattenkirk. Backes let out the breath he'd been holding in as he heard the goal horn come to a stop. 

The seconds began to tick by now that the Blues had gained leverage. Backes was on the ice when the hit happened. 

The referee had just called Berglund for hooking. Patrik yelled, "You *bleep*ing suck!" at the official, slamming the door to the penalty box and plopping down on the bench ungracefully. The Blackhawks went on the power play with a few minutes left in the second period. As long as we can hold them off, Backes thought, we can go to intermission with a safe lead and come back out with fresh legs. Backes hopped onto the ice for his shift. Due to Hitchcock switching up lines, Lehtera was now playing with Backes and Stastny. Paul fired a pass to Lehtera, but it missed and hit the boards. Jori was in pursuit of the puck, which was gobbled up by Duncan Keith, when Seabrook slammed him into the boards head-first. 

Backes felt his heart stop when he saw Jori's head get knocked first against the glass and then on the ice. He stopped skating, even when the puck was passed to him, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle to signal charging, roughing, boarding, anything. That HAD to be a penalty. There was no possible way it wasn't.

Even though the referee saw the entire play unfold, he didn't raise his arm. When he saw Backes glaring at him, and then noticed Lehtera still hadn't gotten back on his skates, he blew the whistle to stop the play. Alex Pietrangelo skated over to Seabrook and punched him in the face, which, of course, started a brawl. It was a typical Blues/Blackhawks occurrence, the bench-clearing brawl that usually ended up leaving two guys in the penalty box for each team. Backes decided to be one of those two guys when Keith started to laugh about how Lehtera wasn't up yet still, Paul with a hand on his back and trying to get him out of his daze. Other than the slight concussion he was sure to have, he looked better than Backes thought he would. He felt woozy with relief.

Still, even knowing that Lehtera was fine didn't stop Backes from getting a fist in Keith's face. Keith punched back immediately, and Backes swore that if the referee hadn't pulled them apart, he would've killed Duncan right then and there. "You don't laugh when someone is hurt, douchebag!" he yelled. 

Keith yelled back, "Having flashbacks to 2014, huh, Backes? Wakey, wakey-" he began to say, but Ryan Reaves cross-checked him to the ice. Backes pushed the referee holding him back off of him, relieved to see that Lehtera was standing now and seemed to be aware of what was going on. He probably wouldn't even need to go to the locker room, which was a relief.

Reaves sighed when the referee gave him a roughing minor. "He deserved it," Reaves said with a satisfied grin. "No one does that to any of us without them hearing from my fist about it. If only I could've gotten my hands on Brent before Petro did."

Backes sighed when he saw he had received a minor too. Three Blackhawks were in the box, one being Hossa for shoving Vladi to the ground when he went to help Paul with Jori. If it had been Backes, he would've given Hossa all types of crap and fought him, but since Tarasenko was more calm and collected, he didn't retaliate and didn't receive a penalty. 

After the minors had been handed out, the Blackhawks were still on the power play like before. Backes, Pietrangelo, and Reaves all sat squished into the penalty box together, adrenaline still pulsing from the brawl. "I really hope we play these guys in the playoffs that way we can get a chance to have our revenge in the best fashion," Pietrangelo said, adjusting his helmet. 

Reaves stared at the puck as it was passed to Kane. "If we play them in the playoffs," he said. "I'm probably going to get suspended for the rest of the series."

That made Backes and Pietrangelo both laugh. The NHL hated Reaves and his big hits, so that probably wouldn't take much. "What would be the greatest revenge is if we won the whole thing," Backes said.

With that, they all silently agreed. They were going to the playoffs for the fifth straight year, and no cheap shot was going to bring them down.


End file.
